Furnace-retort



C. SMITH AND E. B. EDWARDS. FURNACE RETORT. APPLICATION HLED APR24, 191s.

Pateni'e Apr. 25, 19:22.

3 SHkETS--SHEET l.

S v i wk C. H. SIVHTH AND E. B EDWARDS.

FURNACE RETORT. APPLlC-ATLON FILED APR.24,1919.

Patentd Apr. 25, 192.2

. 3 5 HEETSSHEET2.

F A P $5 5 56 13,51 30' C H. SMITH AND E. B. EDWARDS.

FURNACE RETORT.

APPLICATION FILED APR.24,1919.

latanted Apr. 25; 1922.

3 SHhETSS HEET 3.

. nace-Retorts.

s a ons J; T

CMBLES HDRVARI? SMITH, 0F SHGET HILM, JERSEY; AND EDWARD EDW'AR-LDS, 0E EAST-QRiNGE, NEVJ JEREAEY, ASSIGEQRSTB IHTEIQNAE GGA'X} BQRODVGTS CDRZPOEATIQN, 31F RIGEMQND, VIEMHNIA,

01-? VERGIBIIA.

A GORFQ s'onnncn-nnsonu'. 1 m; g og, Specification of Letters gamut. p m A v 25 Application fiie-i .e rn 24, 919. Serial 1%. 292,433.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lznown that We, Crnxnnns H. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and En wnno EDWARDS, a subject- 01? the Kingoif Engicnd, (who has foresworn his allegiance to said country and has taken ooih declaring,

his intention of becoming a citizenof the United States) and residents, respectively, of E -hort Hills, county of Essex, State of New Jersey; and Essex, State N w Jersey, have anode certain. new and useful improvements in Fun I of which the following is a specification. 1,

lllie invention relates to a combined furand retort frequent-1y herein referred to a." a furnace-retort.

The furnace-retort which is the subject of the present invention has been particularly designed and constructed to a pzirtinl distillation or a partial carhonization of coal in order to eliminate a part of the volatile hydrocarbons contained in the coal. and to obtain a uniform but partially distilled residue:

In the furnace-retort the cm'honiziog space of the ietort is in a iOl'lgiilKlil'lililly extending tubular inner Wall construction or retort shell within which there is a mi. in}; means constructed so iis to longitudinally convey the material Withiii the retoit from the charging end'thcreof toward the discharging end. This mixing means is frequently 1 invention. of Charles H. Smith.

The preliminary heating; or partial; dis? tiilution which. is yeriormcd in the furnaceretort is fi'cquentiy. referred to a. low temperature process. It has been tound, however, that if the furnace incomes overl'ilnst Orange, county of heated certain places there some mes takes place What may he referred cracking or breaking upl'of volatiie nutter with the result of larger yield of rich gases and or lower yieiil of tar than would be the case if this cracking o breaking-up or" the volsiiie .into gssco'vi form had not-occurred. In order to prevem this the present invention is coiicerned with the shielding or protecting to some extcnt of the upper exterior partof the tuhuler'inner Wallconstruction whereby the products of combustion wouldnot directly contra ct there. with. I

- According to one phase of the invention "there is contemplated the QlilpiOfHllQHt of a tubular inner Wall or retort shell of-nietsl and the construction has been designed so that the upper portion of this tubular all receives support from the masonry const, .ZLC- tion', of the furnace-retort, above it.

The furnace-retort in the drawings is also, shown as being provided with a recuperator or heat interchanging device having a oalorized metal pipe through the Walls of which there is a transfer of heat from the outgoing gases to the incoming-air that supports combustion in the furnace. I

The invention is directed to. the features shove referred to as Well as to other features hereafter set forth in detail and clearly pointcd'out. v L

ins showing specific embodiment of the invention reference is made to the accompartying drawings 'i'oijining a part. of this specification, in which ,dmwin Figure 1 is a. vertical and, .oi'igit-udinnl section of the furnace-retort having :1 recuperzitor. This Vicfi is taken on the planes indicated by ihe oroiien lines 11 of Figures 2 and 3% looking in the direction of the arrows. There is also indicated in this iew, by dot and dash lines. 213 screwconveyor which serves :is a means for feeding or charging coal to the interior of the retort. In this viewtherc is also indicated part of :1 discharge sealing ;.means, such as may he employed at the discharge end of the retort.-

Figure 2. is a sectional view taken as on the plane indicated by the line2 2 ofFigure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, and in this View it Wiil he observed the fur- ,nace' retorts may be; arranged 'in batteries. In this View there are also ciearly indicated shafts 6 and paddles any] the air dues in the recuperate!" and the passageways leading therefrom to the lower portions of the combustion spaces of the furnace portions of the retorts.

l igure 3 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view taken as on the planes indicated by the broken lines 3-3 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. ln this'view are clearly shown the passageways. through which the waste gases or products of coinbustion pass on the way from the combustion chambers of the furnace toand through the recuperator.

Referring now" to the several parts indetail, 1 indicates the furnace-retort as a whole, the retort proper of which is designated by 2 and the furnace proper by 3. The retort 2 has a horizontally and longitudinally extending tubular shell a which is herein frequently referred to as the longitu nally extending tubular inner wall construction or retort shell. Therein there is located the mixing: and conveying means comprising? '7. The paddles are arranged so that those on one shaft overlap those on the other, andthe shafts are driven in any suitable manner and preferably so as to rotate in directions indicated by the arrows; that is in directions tending to move the material from the lower central portion of the retort toward the outer sides. The. shafts pass through heads 8 and 9 which are respectively located at the charging and discharging end of the retort, and suitable seals are provided between the heads and the shafts for opposing the entrance of air to the interior of the retort between the heads on the one hand and the shafts on the other.

At the charging end of the retort there is also provided any suitable feeding means, as a screw-conveyor 10, which serves to feed the coal. to the interior of the retort, at the same time preventing the entrance of air into the interior thereof.

The discharge from the furnace is taken care of by any suitable sealing means, as 11. which is also constructed so as to permit a discharge of the partially carbonized material from the furnace; at the same time preventing the entrance of air to the in.- terior of the furnace or at least avoiding the entrance of any objectionable quantity of air to the interior of the furnace even when a discharge is being made.

The retort is provided with a off-take, indicated at 12, through which the gases and volatile matters driven off during the distilling or'carbonizing operation passon their way, as to any suitable collecting or recovering apparatus. The furnace-rrtort rests upon a foundation, as the concrete construction 13, and has vertically and transversely extending; front and rear end walls, respectively designated 14: and 15. The front end wall may be referred to as the the inner wall construction just charging end wall and the rear end wall may be referred to as the discharging end wall. These end walls are connected by longitudinally extending main side walls 16, and an arched roof 17 rests upon the upper portion of said main side walls. The roof: extends from end wall to end wall.

The floor construction l8-as it may be called-may be considered as extending from. side wall to side wall and from end wall to end wall. From one point of view the floor construction merges into the side walls, and from another the side walls merge into the. door construction. A. vertically and longitudinally extending rib 19 extends from the floor construction to the under side of the inner wall construction it and divides the combustion chamber, as a whole, of the fun nace proper 3 into two smaller chambers or compartments 20 arranged along opposite sides of" the retort. Each chamber 20 is subdivided into small combustion spaces or lines 21, 21., etc. by means of vertically and transversely extending partitions 22. These sub-divided spaces or fines 21, however, do not extend the full height of the retort but are cut off, as. at 23, by means of horizontally, longitudinally and transversely extending partitions 24s, 24: having therein pas, sageways 25 controlled by dampers 26. Each partition 24 extends from a side wall to the retort shell or tubular inner wall construction and engages or substantially engages the latter alonga longitudinal portion which is between a side and uppermost portion of the tubular inner wall construction thereby serving to cut off the combustion fines or spaces whereby the products of combustion in said. combustion fines or spaces cannot contact with the top or uppermost portion off-the tubular inner wall or retort shell. In other words, the partitions 2e serve too it off the combustion chambers or spaces s that the combustion chamber is entirely below the partitions. An upper centrally located longitudinally and vertically extending rib portion 27 extends from the upper portion of 4 to the roof 1?, and a refractory masonry construction 28 which is arch shaped in cross-section extends longitudinally troin the front end wall 14 to the rear end wall 15 and transversely from the inner portions ofv the longitudinally extending partitions 24 to the lower end of the upper central rib 27. therefore, be seen that a longitudinally extending waste heat flue 29 is provided above each half of the retort but within the masonry ofthe furnace construction and the waste gases ner wall construction or retort shell 4-, being prevented by the masonry construction 28 descrihei'l which serves as an insulating wall or a protcctingwall for the inner wall its It will, no

in this flue do not touch the inconstruction 4. The masonry roof 17 is also 131 provided with a series of openings 30 through which rods are passed whereby the dampers 26, 26 of the passageways can. be positioned. The openings 30 are normally closed by any suitable plug, as 31. As faras the feature of protecting the upper portion of the retort concerned the inner Wall construction of the retort may be of any suitable material as, for example, it may be of rolled steel which has been calorized;

it may be of fe'rro-silicon cast in blocks and [v assembled in the desired shape; itmay be made of carborundum blocks; or'may be of castings of steel or semisteel, or evenof silica bricks or blocks.

In the construction herein shown the tubular inner wall or retort shell is made'of rolled sheets,- each-half of tile shell being in the? form of a cylindrical tube having a longitudinal portion of the tube removed oreliminated. In other Words, the tubular shell is hicylindrical. When the shell isto, he of calorized metal each hall" of the tubuin shell can be constructed by taking cylin: dries]. tubes of sheet metal, calorizing the same and thereafter cutting to form the dc-' sired half or partial tubular portion. ;The partial tubular portions are brought together in a manner whereby they arennite d, as by Welding, along longitudinal lines or seams to upper and lower longitudinally and vertically extending sheets or joint members 32 and 33 which can be relied upon as stifien ging ribs at the iipper and lower portions of the shell or inner wall construction, The retort shell or inner avail can be completed or assembled in place because the welding is readily accomplished in place. The material at or. in the immediate vicinity of they Welds as theresult of Welding the longitudinally extending seams, is uncalorize'd and is left uncalorized. This is not objectionable because said nncalorized portions-as are on the'ext'erior of the shell are protected against -the oxidizing action of the air and gases in the combustion chambers and waste heat fines by the longitudinally extending ribs 19 and 27 which-are wide enough to protect such exposed uncalorized portions.

The upper sheet or joint member 32 extends above upper outer surface of the "retort shell in a manner to perform the further function of a connecting member which is relied upon as a part of the means whereby the upper part of the tulgular'shell is locally supported by means of verticalmasonry construction.

rods 3% which are each connectedby means o'f'a bolt 35 to the upper sheet 01' joint member 32. The upper end of each rod 34:is threaded so as to receive a nut 35 that in turn rests upon a plate 36 seated upon the These rods are ar-,. ranged longitudin ly, as indicated in'Figure 1, so as to siipport successive sections along; the retort shell or inner'tubulanwfll con- 1 iii rection counter to that in which the struction 4. It will be noted that said rods 34 pass through a space or spaces 37 in the centrally located longitudinally extending rib portion 27.

Gas is supplied to each of the heat fines 21,through openings 38, and air for supporting combustion passesv thereto through openings 3;), as will hereinafter more fully appear. flumibustion takes place adjacent to but at each side of the vertically extending rib 19 on they uniting of thegas and air directly belovr hhe tubular inner wall. or retort shell, and in order to protect the tubular wall construction from the intense heat at this point, there are-provided ballie plates 40 which are supported upon the vertically and trar-isversely' extending partitions 22. Reference has heretofore beenmade to the fact that each furnace retortis provided structed within the chambers or spaces 43 (see Figure 2) which have been'provi-ded in the masonry construction 13 and the masonry construction has also been provided Witha central passageway or tunnel 44 into which the operator enters toregulate the control of the heat conditions Within the furnace, aswill hereinafter more fully appear.

a central and longitudinally extending main fine 51. There are two main, fiues 51 for each retort and there are two. calorized tubes 46 for each retort. The products. of comi The air for supportingco'mbustion enters bastion on leaving the furnace pass from each'o-f the waste; heat lines .4 through the downcomer 52, clearly shown in Figures 1 and-3, into passageways 53, 54 and 55 oil? the recuperator, finally leaving the recuperator through opening 56. It wil thus be ob served that the incoming air passes in a di-' 7 outgoing gases flow. The air from the main lines 51 passes through horizontally and transversely extending passageways or openings 39. There is a damper in each of the openings 39. for regulating or controlling the flow ct hot air from each of the passageways 57 into the openings or passegewaysfiil. Said damper is shown only in Figure 2 and is not shown in Figure 1:

It has heretofore been pointed out that the qas is supplied through the several openings Y38 and it will therefore lie-apparent that eov the feel bloat one retort shell or tubular innervv'ali construction may be of metal tubes which have been caloiized. The metal of the calorized tube or pipe 46 and of the 'calcr'ized retort shell may be rolled sheet steel; it. is preferably some ferrous material.

The tube or plat-es forming the tube, is

, covered Wifih powdered aluminum and placed in a retort or oven having a non-oxidizing atmosphere and heated at approximately 1800 degrees F. for about ten hours. The resulting product is Well adapted to Withstand high oxidizing temperatures.

lhe metal 'Eubes or pipes employed in the impasse; provide excellent walls for fa- Gilli; ii a 'l-he interchange of heat from'the outgoing Was se gases to the incoming air and have been calorized to protect, them;

' againsil the oxidizingaction of hot air and gases. (lalorized metal pipes for'this purpose combine advanaageou features of con- SHUCUUD not heretofore realized; for example maicrial the recuperator walls through which the interchange of heat takes place, it will be found impossible to el't'eci: a tightconstruction. In other Words, use, develops leaks orholes which permit the leaking of the products of combustion into the air, or the air inso fiche products of combustion. Again, il -an attempt, is made to construct the Walls of metal, not calorized, it will soon be found that trouble will be experienced because the" nnwlorized pipe will shortly pit or burn'throngh as the result of oxidizelion. permiihin ob'ectionable leaks similar to those encountered in the refractory construction. Until this piiJi-ing or burning of the uncalorized metal pipe the Walls might be tightbut the instant this burning through occurs it will be mauifese that the objectionable leaks will exist.

A- metal pipe which has been calorized overcomes the objectionable features referred to; in other Words, it results in a tight construction which will last and Withstand fihe' action of hot air and gases and it; also afl'ords an excellent medium through which the ready transfer or interchange of heat can take pla e.

From the drawings it will be clear that the masonry portion of the rccuperators 41 does nob extend the full height of the charmbers or spaces 4 in the concrete or masonry constri'iciioo l3 and hence the masonry of wall may be referred to as if one attempts to make oi= refractory the recuperators can expand vertically without affecting the position of the fur nace-retort structure resting upon the con crete or masonry construction 13. In other Words, the recuperators while functioning in operative association with the retort structure, and being connected with the pip ing portions 50, are not, mechanically con.- nccted to but are in efiect mechanica ly independent of the retort structue e. This allows expansion for the retorts to be taken care of and considered as independent of the recuperatpr construction. So far as the expansion features are concerned the recuperators and the furnace-retorts are mechanically independent. This also leads to a simplifying and cheapening of the bearing construction for the heads oi the furnace The masonry of the furnace-retort and of the recuperator is in each case built largely of standard bricks and. of simple shapes, resulting in a cheap or low cost structure, easily and readily built The inner inbular Wall construction or retort shell may be broadly referred to as an inverted, heart-shape cross-section because of the peak-or ridge at the lower central portion. More specifically, however, this a tipped over d-shape cross-section, via, the long axis of the 8 extending longitudinally and the short axis vertically, the meeting; portions v and also leads to the cheapening of :a construction as a- Whole.-

of the lobes, which. are at each side, providing the centrally located peak or ridge at the bottom and an inverted portion or recess at the top. With a retort of this specifiocrosssection there is, above the pad dlcs, only a small amounh of free area and hence only a small space Where floating particles of coal dust can gather.

Coal dust at as it tends to pass into and block the ascensionpipes or piping leading from "the interior of the retort. /Vithin this small space at the top of-"thc furnace there is a tendency for plasifiic material masses or plastic material on the moving paddles to engage and catchthe particles, thus serving in effect to filter the gas. and free it of the particles.

What is claimed. is: I p 1. A furnace-retort of the class described havipg side walls a tubular shell ldcated between them, means for agitating or mixingthis place is objectionable nineeoe struction which provides the floor, side. Walls, end walls and roof, and a tubular shell that provides therein a retort proper, which tubular shell extends from end Wall to end Wall and has therein mixing and coin veying means, the furnace of the furnace-re tort being so characterized that there is a transversely extending partition, having damper controlled openings therein, extending from each side wall to the tubular shell whereby a combustion chamber is provided opposite the lower portion of the tubular tubuiarshell, the upper portion. of which Shellie protected by refractorymaterial construction which prevents the direct contact of the products of combustion with the upper portion of the tubular shell.

9. A furneceretort having a tubular bicylindrical shell. of sheet metal and e Inasonry roof constructionabove-said bicylindrical shell, said shell being positioned so that it extends horizontally and longitudh nally and so that the partial cylinders making up the shell are arranged side by side, said furnace-retort being provided with vertically extending rods arranged to locally support the curved inturned central longitudinal portion of the tubular bicylindrical metal shell from the masonry roof construe tion.

roof of the furnace proper,

10. A furnace-retort having a suitable roof construction and a retort the shell of which is constructed of metal sheets in the form of cylindrical pipes or tubes from which longitudinal portions of the pipes have been removed and vvhich sheets have been united along longitudinal lines to provide a tubular construction of the desired cross-section and rods extending "from said roof construction to the upper central p0T- tion of the relnrt shell whereby the latter receives support from said roof construction.

.11. A furnace-retort having masonry which provides the end Wellgide walls and and a tubular shell providing the walls of e retort which shell extends -from end Wall to end Wall, there being within said tubulanshell means for mixing the material within the retort and for conveying it along the retort, the

furnace of thefurnaee-retort being charec termed by haille plates located adjacent to the tubular shell and arranged to protect the letter from the heat Where combustion takes place.

This specification signed the 15th (lily of April, 1919.

CHARLES HOl/Vl-lltl) Shlllll-l. EDVVAED B. EDVARDS.

ill 

